Points of Interest

Important News regarding Hearing Aid Batteries: Hearing aid batteries are activated by removing a small sticker which allows oxygen to mix with zinc-oxide inside of the battery. According to DeeDee Stiepan in an article published for KIMT on May 28, 2015, an 8th grade hearing aid user, Ethan Manuell, did testing to see if he could extend the life of his hearing aid batteries. Ethan found that by pulling off the sticker and waiting 5 minutes before using the battery extended battery life by up to 80% giving him a couple more days of use out of his batteries. Waiting 5 minutes before use allowed the zinc-oxide to be more fully activated and allowed for longer life from the battery. On average Ethan's discovery allowed him to get another 1-2 days out of each battery.

Second Hand Smoke Linked to Low Frequency Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is associated with exposure to cigarette smoke in children, according to a study completed at New York University. Researchers measured the hearing of 1533 teenagers and measured the levels of cotinine in their blood samples. Cotinine is a metabolite of nicotine. It’s used as a biomarker to measure exposure to second hand smoke: the level of cotinine in blood correlates with exposure to tobacco smoke.Based on cotinine levels, the study found 799 teenagers who were exposed to second hand smoke, and 754 teenagers who were in smoke-free environments. Between those two groups, they found that low frequency sensorineural hearing loss occurred as much as 17% of the time in the high cotinine group.The reason that tobacco smoke may cause hearing loss is not fully understood, but the article suggests that the path of destruction may be lie within the tiniest blood vessels of the body, which are found in abundance in our inner ears , especially in a structure called the stria vascularis that is essential for maintain hearing acuity. Blood flow through such vessels is known to be reduced by tobacco.

Most of the teenagers with hearing loss did not know they had hearing problems. This may seem surprising, but awareness depends on the severity of hearing loss. Just 3% of the teenagers exposed to second hand smoke had hearing losses in excess of 25 dB. It’s not very different than with adults who have hearing loss. In most cases, adults are unaware of their hearing loss (and often deny it) for some time as it progresses, even after others around them are aware of it for several years. As this study’s chief investigator stated, “Most kids, about 85 percent, were unaware of their hearing loss. You can’t rely on self-reports.”The take home here is that everyone should have a baseline audiogram to ensure that their hearing is not compromised. Thereafter, it is wise to do comparison testing every few years — depending on baseline results — to ensure that if changes occur in hearing, they are detected and addressed appropriately.